Enchanted Forest Serenade
by PirateOwl
Summary: A witch unmakes the curse that created Storybrooke, and removes all memories of everything that has happened since Regina cast the curse. Snow and Charming believe Neal is their only child, Hook doesn't remember becoming more than just a pirate, and Regina only wants revenge on Snow. Emma and Henry remember the truth but they are trapped in New York. CaptainSwan & Charming Family.
1. Chapter 1: Nothing Good About Goodbyes

**Post-Season 3. A witch unmakes the curse that created Storybrooke, and removes all memories of everything that has happened since Regina cast the curse. Snow and Charming believe Neal is their only child, Hook doesn't remember becoming more than just a one handed pirate with a drinking problem, and Regina only wants revenge on Snow. Emma and Henry remember the truth but they are trapped in New York. Primarily CaptainSwan & Charming Family with a little RumBelle and other canon ships. **

**Rated T because that is what I think the show would be.**

**Sadly the show isn't mine. (However, even if it were, I don't think I would have changed anything about the amazing Season 3 finale.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Nothing Good About Goodbyes**

"Look," Henry says. "We both know Mom won't say it because she'll be afraid of jinxing it, or of becoming one of the people who made promises to her that they didn't keep. So I'll say it for her. We will find you. You've always found us and brought us home, and we will do the same for you."

"How can you be so sure?" Killian asks. His eyes drift for a second past the lad, to the beautiful blond saying her goodbyes to her parents, but then he turns back, giving Henry his full attention.

"Are you kidding? My family always finds each other. You were even back there when it got started. Its half way between a promise and habit we can't shake. It's in my blood from both sides. Of course we'll find you."

"Aye, but isn't that just for family?"

"And you are," Henry says, without any hesitation. "Family is the ones that stick around and the ones that come back. You've done both quite a bit. Besides, you and Mom have been together for a while now, you're even in my book together and… well… you're kinda the closest thing I've got to a dad," Henry admits quietly.

Killian smiles, but it's tinged with sadness. "I'd like that. I just wish I could be there for you like you deserve. You know I wouldn't leave your mom or you if I had any choice, right?"

"Yeah," Henry says. "You came for me in Neverland, came for us in New York, have stuck around ever since. This is just our turn to do the finding." He smiles, only the briefest hint of sadness in it. "I know that if you had your way you would stick around. And I appreciate that."

"Aye, Lad, that I would." He pulls a sextant out of the pocket of his coat. "My brother gave this to me, shortly before we set sail for Neverland. He meant for it to be carried by an honorable man. When I get back to the Enchanted Forrest, I won't be." He turns it over in his hand, preferring to regard the Pegasus marking and the strange stars on the sextant than meeting Henry's earnest gaze. "Because I will have forgotten everything good about myself when I forget you and Emma. So I want you to have it." He presses it into Henry's hand.

The lad stares down at it for a long moment before looking up to meet Killian's eyes. "You've had this for three hundred years," he says in amazement.

"Aye. And now it's yours."

"Thank you," Henry says, pulling Killian into a hug which he returns gratefully.

"You're welcome. I figured it should stay in the family," Killian says with a smile.

Emma walks over to join them, trying very hard to not look back at her parents.

"They'll be alright Emma," he assures her softly. "They'll miss you, even if they only know you from when you were first born, but they'll be okay. They're lucky they get that much."

"I'll give you two a minute," Henry says, flashing a bizarrely confident smile at Killian, and, still holding the sextant, heads over to say goodbye to Regina.

"And you?" Emma asks.

"I'm always fine," he says with a smirk.

"Killian…"

"No," he admits. "I won't remember you. That would be a cruel enough fate even if it didn't mean I go back to the man I was." He gives her a weak attempt at a smile. "I don't want to go back to that. When I forget you, I'll also forget me."

"But I'll remember, for both of us," Emma promises. He can see she is trying so hard not to cry; they both are.

"I could change some of your memories," she offers, "so some things make more sense."

"Like the Jolly Roger? I don't want them to make sense," he admits softly. "I want to know that something has changed, because everything has."

"The curse will edit any memories that don't make sense, but this way I can make them… I can't make you remember me but maybe…"

"Go ahead then," he tells her, sensing as always the things she can't quite put into words. She lays a hand on the side of his face, white light shining from between her fingers.

"These will kick in when the curse sets in," she tells him. "You found someone who had the location for the Crocodile," Emma says, telling him the memories as she places them in his head. "You traded your ship for a location. He told you… he told you that you would find what you seek in a realm without magic. And he gave you the name of someone who might be able to help you when you get here."

"Emma Swan," he whispers.

"Of course." The light fades from her hand but she doesn't move it from the side of his face. "I know you won't be able to remember me, but I need to know that you will still be out there looking for me. I've gotten sort of used to it." She gives him a tearful smile. "And I may or may not have sharpened a few rum soaked memories of that damn bar wench you kissed."

He smiles back at her. "I look forward to remembering," he says.

"Hook," she says softly. "You should know, what you said in Neverland, you were right."

"Which thing, Love?" he asks, reaching out and wiping away the tears running down her cheeks.

"When you said you would win my heart. You did."

"I'm sorry then. I never meant to be one of the ones who take it and leave," he says softly.

"You aren't. And I'm not sorry. You want to stay and that makes all the difference. Besides, I've been on that side of memory loss and I know it sucks too." She looks at him in silence for a long moment. "Not a day will go by I won't think of you," she says with a half-smile. He can hear in those echoes words all the things she doesn't dare say, the promise that she will do what he did during the lost year, that thinking won't be enough and that she will find him but doesn't dare promise it for fear she won't be able to keep her promise.

"Good," he echoes, responding in part to what she says and even more to all the things she doesn't say.

"Ready?" Henry asks, stepping up beside his mother.

"Not even close," Emma replies. She looks past Killian and the others at the approaching purple cloud. She sighs.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this, Love," he says quietly.

"I know. But here we are."

They both reach out to kiss the other at the same time, holding on for dear life, like they can forestall the curse simply by holding on to each other. The kiss has all the desperate passion of their kiss in Neverland and all the sweetness of their kiss after they returned from the past, a kiss to contain all the kisses they won't be able to share. His hand twines in her hair, his hook on the small of her back pulling her closer, never mind the fact that her parents and son are standing by. None of them voice any objections.

"The curse is almost here," Snow says finally. They part reluctantly, not ready to give up yet.

"You have to go," David says sadly. "You're the only one who can remember any of this and someone should."

Henry claps Killian on the shoulder as he walks past. "I meant what I said," he promises.

"Aye," Killian says. "Look after each other. Now your father is right. You have to get going Swan. I wouldn't want you forgetting me like last time we were all whisked back to the Enchanted Forest."

"Not gonna happen," she promises.

"Glad to hear it, Love."

With that, she and Henry grudgingly get in her yellow bug and drive away. The last thing she sees out of the rear-view mirror is her family, Regina standing off to one side, Snow's arm linked with David's, his other hand clasped on Killian's shoulder.

* * *

When they have safely crossed the town line and all of the others are gone, Emma pulls over to the side of the road. She had meant to stay strong for Henry's sake, not to show how hopeless she feels about all of this but she can't help it. Everything had been going so well and she is suddenly thrown back to being a lost girl and an orphan all over again.

Henry places a hand gently on her shoulder. "It'll be alright Mom," he says gently.

"Will it?" she asks. Then she gives a tearful laugh. "You're just like my parents, with that ridiculous optimism."

"Don't knock it," Henry says with a half-smile. "This ridiculous optimism brought you back into my life, made you break the curse the first time, and helped turn my other mom into one of the good guys, not to mention all the times I've been sure people will come rescue me and they have. So far, it's worked out pretty well for me so I'm gonna keep it up."

"Things like today are why I don't do optimism," Emma says, taking a deep breath.

"You should. This is a temporary setback," Henry assures her. "Last time it took only a year."

"And a curse in which my mother had to literally crush my father's heart."

"So, we'll find an alternative."

"The only people who know we need an alternative are the two of us Henry, and we are stuck in a world without magic."

"People always call it that but have you actually looked around at some of the stuff that has happened in this realm, even before Granddad brought magic? There is some, not much, but it might just be enough. It _is_ supposed to be easier to travel to a realm with magic than a realm without magic."

She nods, wipes her eyes, puts the car back in gear, and heads down the road.

"So where are we headed?" Henry asks.

"New York."

For an instant Henry looks crestfallen, like all his optimism has finally failed him.

"Give me some credit, Kid," she says, noticing the look. "I edited Killian's memories. He doesn't remember us, because we don't fit in before the curse. What he does remember is his quest for revenge on Rumplestiltskin, and selling his ship to get a location."

"And that location is in New York?" Henry asks, his smile returning broader than before.

"That's right Kid. I gave him the address of our apartment, which is still technically under the lease. We can use that as our home base while we look for another solution, and we will leave a message for him whenever we leave to follow up a lead so he'll know how to contact us."

"So you believe we are going to find him?"

"I don't know," she admits. "But I believe we are going to try."

"Well then, sounds like Operation Cobra is a back."

"Cobra?" Emma asks. It seams so much more doable now, sitting in the car with Henry, discussing it like it has all happened before. "I think this deserves a new code name for a drastically different mission."

"It isn't _that_ different," Henry points out. "A bunch of fairy tale characters were caught up in a curse and now they don't remember who they are and you and I are their only chance. Sounds like the same mission to me."

"Fair enough."

"But if you really want a different name for it, how does Operation Sea Serpent sound?"

"Operation Sea Serpent it is," she confirms, settling back for the long drive to New York.


	2. Chapter 2: Yo Ho Ho

**Chapter 2: Yo Ho Ho**

Captain Hook wakes from a really good dream. Daydream more like because he is still standing on a hilltop. Whatever it was, the details are fading swiftly in the light of day as he struggles to remember what is real and going on right now.

Right, the Evil Queen's heartless mother is protecting him from her daughter's curse and going to take him to find the Crocodile.

He turns to Cora to ask when her daughter's curse is going to kick in, only to realize she had gone. That isn't part of the plan. In fact, he doesn't actually have another plan. If she leaves him out here, he has no idea how else to get to a realm without magic.

"Bad form leaving a man hanging like that," he grumbles, slashing at a nearby branch with his hook.

He won't miss her personally. She is more than a little unhinged and the fact that she deliberately removed her own heart has unnerved him from the moment he found out, but she is also supposed to be his ticket to the realm without magic. Without her, he is stranded in the Enchanted Forest. He can, hardly sail his ship to this New York.

His ship that he sold.

He frowns. Had he really sold the Jolly Roger for some unverified information? He tries to remember how drunk he must have to do something like that. And how drunk he must have still been the next morning to let someone sail off with his ship, no matter what deals had been struck the night before. However, if it is true that the Crocodile is in a land without magic then it will be worth the trade, because without his magic, the Crocodile is vulnerable.

He finds his crew at the same tavern he left them in, which is impressive and slightly sad, because that had been weeks ago and they should definitely not still be hanging around this rundown tavern. Apparently after three hundred years before the mast in Neverland, none of them knows how to operate on land and without a captain to lead them.

He orders eggs and coffee down in the tavern, while his crew to stumbles in one by one. For one brief bizarre moment he thinks he should order it with cinnamon, but the spices of Agrabah are too expensive for a small dockside tavern like this one.

He runs his hand lightly across the tattoo on his right forearm, Milah's name and the Crocodile's dagger. After three hundred years, his revenge is finally within reach. Or will be just as soon as he figures out how to cross into this realm without magic. Crossing between magical realms is difficult enough. He hadn't meant to spend as many years in Neverland as he had.

"Mr. Smee, you know I value your ability to procure rare items for me," he says when the man takes a seat at the table.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Captain. I only work for coin," the man says with a smirk.

Hook laughs. "I'm not trying to get you to work for free Smee. I'm a pirate, not an idiot. I just want you to acquire something very difficult to find; a way to cross realms."

"Didn't we just get back from realm jumping Captain? Not that I don't appreciate having lived three hundred years without aging, but I think I'd just as soon stay put for a while."

"I'm not going back to Neverland either. Ever. No Smee, I'm going to a realm know as New York."

"Never heard of it."

"Neither had I, but a powerful seer sold me the location." He frowns, because the memory is fuzzy and the harder he tries to focus on it the harder it is to get a good idea of what actually happened.

"I'll get started on that right away Captain, but just so you know, I would still be happy staying this realm for a while."

"Noted Smee. Just find me a bloody portal. And as for the rest of you lot, finish your grub. We're going to get a new ship." None of the others object, or even ask where he has been.

There are no amazing prospects in the harbor. The Jolly Roger had once been the Jewel of the Realm, the finest ship in the king's navy, commissioned for a special mission by the king himself. That had been a long time ago, but she is still an amazing vessel, the best Hook has ever known. The ships in the harbor now are not amazing; they might, on a good day, qualify as average. It would take all of his three hundred plus years of experience just to make one of these win in a battle against the average merchant ship, let alone a navy ship or anything defending a worthwhile cargo.

He finally selects a whaling vessel, The Pequod, as his new ship. There are only a few men on board, so he steps onto the ship with all the confidence and swagger he possesses.

"Gentlemen. And the rest of you lot. I hereby claim this vessel in the name of, well, myself." He waves the hook for emphasis. "I'm a reasonable man so here is how this is going to go. Any of you who want to join my pirate crew can swear your allegiance to me now and remain on board. Any who wish to go to land, it's right there and I'm not going to stop you. Any of you who wish to fight for the ship with be cut down were you stand without quarter."

They all know him by reputation and several of them scurry of the ship immediately. A few others immediately swear loyalty. They kill ones who fight, throwing their bodies into the water and drawing sharks from miles around.

"I can't die now," the Pequod's former captain objects as Hook prods him toward the plank. "I haven't found that damn whale."

"Waste of a perfectly adequate ship," Hook says, pushing the captain into the water. "You can put your mind at rest; we will not be tracking any whales," he assures the crew. "This ship is going to be dedicated to hunting one particular Crocodile."

"A crocodile?" one of the new crew asks.

"Aye. He took my hand and more from me. And now I finally have him within my sights."

"The more things change the more they stay the same," one of the other new crew men grumbles. Hook chooses to ignore the comment. He made them promise loyalty not respect. He has no problem earning the latter with time.

It's good to be at the helm of a ship again. He had missed the Jolly Roger. He still does; this ship is good, but not her. A nagging thought in the back of his mind can't tell for certain how long it has been, literally cannot figure it out. The information he had traded her for feels new, yet the feeling of a ship gently rocking in the ocean waves as he guides her out of harbor feels so good, so new and familiar at the same time, like his first lover after three hundred years in Neverland.

He misses the Jolly Roger but it has been so long since he was out on the open sea that he is able to ignore the feeling of loss in the back of his mind and simply enjoy the feeling of the wind on his face and the salt spray and the way the ship's prow cuts through the waves.

After a while of simply reveling in the feeling of being back at the helm of his own ship, he takes proper stock. It is a decent, solidly built ship, but it only has one cannon, which is insufficient for a pirate vessel. It is sturdy, and well-built enough to take a few hits, but it lacks the speed of the Jolly Roger. Admittedly, so do most other ships, but this one lacks good turning speed also. And most of the cargo holds are full of whale blubber and bones.

And the Pequod isn't much of a pirate ship name. It should have one more menacing, the good ship Revenge perhaps, or something along those lines. It is supposed to be bad luck to rename a ship unless it is done properly. He hadn't really done much but announce the new name when he had turned the Jewel of the Realm into the pirate ship The Jolly Roger, but looking at it with a little distance he can't decide whether that was the cause of his bad luck since or not.

He tries to recall exactly where he sold the Jolly Roger. He is a pirate and the advantage of that is supposed to be that he can take what he wants. Unfortunately he has no idea where the ship he sold even is. No idea who he sold it to. It's almost as though he has the memories second hand.

He silences that train of thought with a long drink from the flask in his pocket. As bad of luck as it may be to rename a ship, it is probably worse to sit around thinking of his former vessel, fine as she was, while his new ship awaits his commands.

He orders them to strike the black flag and they sail into the shipping lanes to lie in wait for suitable prey. He lets a few of the better armed ships pass them by and curses this new ship for it. In the Jolly Roger he could have bested those ships easily and gotten a hold full of treasure. But a good captain knows the limitations of his ship and Captain Hook is a very good captain. It is just going to take some adjustment for him to deal with captaining a ship that has such limitations.

After being forced to allow some good prospects pass him by simply because he is captaining an inferior ship, he is in a foul mood when he spots the sails of another vessel.

"Raise the black flag Smee," he orders, without caring that the merchant ship approaching is better armed and armored than his own cumbersome ship.

"Captain, that ship is better armed and probably faster and…"

"I am a pirate Mr. Smee. That is supposed to mean that I take what I want, from whom I want, whenever I want. It does not mean hiding in the shipping lanes waiting for tiny fishing boats to rob. If I have to sit here much longer I will want to sink this ship. So raise the Jolly Roger Smee, and come what may."

Hook draws his sword. "Ready men?" he shouts to the crew, raising the sword high over his head. "Starkey, take a half dozen men around in the lifeboat. While they are busy with us, you will go one board and seize the ship."

"I don't think that is what the lifeboat is for Captain. Shouldn't we keep it in case they win?" Smee asks.

"We do not plan for failure Smee; we plan so we don't fail. Mullins, fire a warning shot across their bow."

"We only have six cannonballs Captain."

"All the more reason to put up a wonderful front. Better take a few more men with you Starkey. Looks like the rest of us will be counting on you."

"Shouldn't you lead the boarding party then?" Smee asks.

"No. A boarding party is a boarding party and Starkey has led his share. But this ship needs an excellent captain to be of any use whatsoever." He flashes a grin. "Good thing we have one of those on hand. And on hook. Now Smee, raise that flag. Mullins, fire that warning shot. Starkey, get to your boat."

He pulls his ship directly beside the merchant vessel as the black flag flies overhead.


	3. Chapter 3: Plus One, Minus One

**Chapter 3: Plus One, Minus One**

Flashback:

_"Ah, Charming. And your charming family," Gold greeted as they entered his shop, although his cheerfulness appeared strained to the breaking point. "She said she would unmake the curse in twenty four hours. I'm already working with Belle and Regina to find a solution. I would think you would be spending this very limited time with Emma. And Henry." He frowned slightly. "In any case, if we come up with a solution in the next twenty four hours we will let you know."_

_"That isn't what we came to talk to you about," David said._

_"What happens to Neal?" Snow asked. "When the curse hits, what happens to our son?"_

_"Nothing," Gold assured her. "It is my curse, and I still have some small control even in its unmaking. I can make certain that he is returned with you to the Enchanted Forest. But…" Gold hesitated._

_"There's a price for that magic, isn't there?" David asked._

_"Yes. And a steep one I'm afraid. You only had one child when the curse hit, and you will only remember one when you return."_

_"No!" Snow cried. "I can't forget about Emma or Neal! You can help," she said with desperate hope. "I'll give you anything, just… I can't forget a child again. I can't."_

_"I am truly sorry," Gold said quietly. "There is no worse fate for a parent than the loss of a child and I would spare you that if I could."_

_"I know," David said, laying a hand on the older man's shoulder, knowing Gold would have the curse so much worse because he was completely alone before Storybrooke._

_"All I can do is give you slightly altered memories that will make sure that it is the child who will need you most that you will remember," Gold said._

_"How do we tell that to Emma?" Snow asked. "We can't abandon her again."_

_"We don't," David said softly. "She believes we will remember her as an infant and we don't correct that."_

_"And if she finds us?"_

_"When she finds us," he corrects, putting his arms around his wife, "we will be back together and it won't matter."_

* * *

**Present Day:**

"Charming!"

He opens his eyes with an effort when he hears Snow shouting his name. She is crouching over him, shielding him from the Evil Queen who is standing, laughing and making no effort to harm him or Snow.

The wounds in his shoulder and side don't hurt, which is probably a bad sign. The sound of crying interrupts the Queen's laughter and all heads turn to the wardrobe. He moves on instinct, snatching up his fallen sword as he stands, putting himself and the blade between the Evil Queen and his child.

This is all wrong he knows. The wardrobe was supposed to take Neal to safety, far out of the reach of the Evil Queen and her curse.

"What did you do?" the Queen demands of him and Snow.

"_Us_?" Snow demands, standing to join her husband. "You come into _our_ home, to curse us, to destroy everything good. What did _we_ do? Do what you came for Your Majesty, or get out." She moves to the wardrobe behind David, who is standing at the ready, his sword held unwavering at the Queen's throat.

"You're trying to tell me you don't know why it isn't working?" the Queen demands.

"What isn't working?"

"Charming," Snow says from behind him. "I think she means the curse. And she's wrong. It did something, just not something immediately obvious."

"It should have been," the Queen says angrily.

David glances back, seeing Emma holding their baby boy. Their baby boy who is clearly at least several months old. Neal is holding his head up and looking around the room with clear bright eyes, not crying anymore. He sees the Evil Queen and laughs.

Realized he had taken his eyes off of the Queen, David turns to face her again, leaving Snow holding Neal. The Queen is staring at the boy in absolute fascination.

"He was born today," she says. It isn't a question. Of course the Queen would know something like that.

"What did you do to him?" David demands.

"I have no idea. You're the one who stuck him in a box, alone. Don't blame me that it aged him beyond his… hours."

"This doesn't make any sense," Snow says. "The wardrobe was supposed to protect him from the curse, and he is the only one affected. Why?"

"That's not even what it is supposed to do," The Evil Queen snaps. "Unless… It worked. And then for some reason stopped working. But that shouldn't be possible. He doesn't look newborn, but he isn't twenty eight either. He has a lot to answer for."

"Don't lay a finger on him," David says, taking a threatening step toward the Evil Queen.

"Not him. Someone else," she says. With that, she flicks the edge of her cloak and vanishes in a cloud of purple and black.

David's sword clatters to the floor as he rushes to his wife and child's side.

"Charming, you're hurt," Snow says. "I'll go get Doc." She moves to rise but he catches her arm. He reaches down and lifts the blood soaked shirt to get a look at the wound and finds a scar.

"You don't have a scar there," Snow says in the face of all evidence to the contrary, running her fingers over it gently.

"I just got the wound, seconds after I put Neal in the wardrobe. I'm guessing you are feeling remarkably well for having given birth so recently."

"It appears to have been a bit longer than we remember," Snow points out.

"And a lot less time than we expected," he says.

"But how? We need answers."

"The Queen didn't seem to know anything either."

"Rumplestiltskin might know," Snow suggests.

"Because that worked out so well last time," David points out. "I don't think he knows as much as he pretends."

"We still need answers," Snow points out. "We lost several months with our baby and I want to know why."

"I'm just grateful," David says. "When I set him in that wardrobe I thought I wouldn't see him for twenty eight years."

"So we can either grieve the months we lost or celebrate the decades we don't?" Snow asks. "Can't we do both?"

"Of course we can, but I don't want to go to Rumplestiltskin about this because I don't want our son anywhere near him and I don't intend to let either of you out of my sight. Possibly ever."

"I can go with that plan," Snow says with a smile.

* * *

"We still need answers," Snow says.

It has been several days since the attempted curse and they are attempting to get everything back to normal after the Black Guards' attack on the castle. Reports are coming in from all over the kingdom that confirmed what they suspect; something happened when the curse hit and no one seems certain exactly what but it seems to have had some sort of effect because people miraculously healed from wounds, a few people are missing, and generally things don't quite hang together right.

The Blue Fairy has been no help. If she has any ideas of what happened she is keeping them to herself.

"He steered us wrong last time we talked to him. What makes you think that this will be any different?" David asks.

"Nothing, but he owes us this because he didn't accurately hold up his end last time. Where is the harm in asking, when owes us the information anyway?"

David shakes his head. He doesn't like it, but he knows Snow desperately wants answers. Not that he isn't curious, but he worries that the cost of the answers will be greater than the cost of ignorance. It usually is when dealing with Rumplestiltskin.

But he can't argue with Snow's logic, or with her desire to find out the truth.

"Fine," he says. "Red, Leroy, and Blue can watch Neal and we go together."

"Thank you," Snow says, relief evident on her face, as if they had already learned everything she felt she needed.

* * *

"I'm still waiting Dearie," Rumplestiltskin says in his singsong way. "Oh, it's the Charmings."

"Expecting someone else?" David asks.

"I expect all sorts of things ," Rumplestiltskin says by way of completely useless answer.

"What happened?" Snow demands. "Your information was wrong so the way I see it, that makes you in our debt."

"Information for the child's name, yes?"

"Yes."

"And what happened from your perspective Princess, and Prince too of course, what transpired instead of the curse?" Rumplestiltskin leans forward, face pressing between the bars of his cell. "Come on Dearie, you want me to figure out what happened don't you?"

"Yes," Snow says, while David hesitates. "We did as you instructed, protected our baby in a wardrobe constructed by Gepetto. I was to travel with the child," Snow explains, "but it only carried one and I gave birth too soon. Charming took the baby directly to the wardrobe and was injured on the way."

"Here," David says, showing the scar on his abdomen.

"You got that wound three days ago?" the imp asks.

"Yes. One of the Queen's Black Guards ran me through with his sword."

"And now it is healed. Wonderful for you. But people don't come to me to get an explanation for good news Dearie. Tell me the rest."

"Our child was in that wardrobe maybe ten minutes," Snow says "but in that time he aged several months. And the Evil Queen thought the curse should have worked but all it did was make us miss a few months with our child. Which is terrible but not…. It isn't what we were told to expect."

"You were having a girl," Rumplestiltskin says.

"I was sure all along we were having a boy," David says, irrationally smug about having known better than his wife and the centuries old magician.

"No, no, that's not possible. You were having a girl. My prophecy was about your daughter. She is going to save us all."

"We don't have a daughter," Snow says.

"You should," Rumplestiltskin says, sounding almost pleading. "There must be some kind of mistake."

"While I was pregnant that sort of mistake is easy," Snow says. "Now, not so much."

"The more important question is why your foresight failed," David says. "You thought we would have a girl. You thought the curse was unavoidable. You thought that our child would return in twenty eight years to save us."

"And she will," Rumplestiltskin insists. "She should. She is supposed to be your first-born." He frowns like he is trying to run through all the possibilities in his mind. "Maybe the curse worked," he suggests with a giggle.

"But what exactly was the curse going to do?" Snow asks. "I think I would remember travel to another realm."

"Plus one minus one," Rumplestiltskin murmurs, whether in answering or ignoring the question David can't tell. Then he grins that manic grin again. "You aren't asleep right now either. Doesn't mean you were never hit with a sleeping curse."

"Yes but we both remember that the sleeping curse happened," David points out.

Rumplestiltskin frowns. "Yes yes. If we want to know what happened, we have to ask the one who failed to cast it properly. I have my suspicions."

"Then share them with us," David insists.

"Oh no Dearie." He grins. "I never share. However, you did bargain for information. I suspect that the evil Queen somehow botched the curse. There would have been a certain amount of memory effect if she had performed it correctly. I think that was simply all that remained in her failure." The grin vanishes, replaced by something cold and dangerous. "I think she did something unforeseen. And that doesn't happen to me very often. Maybe I should've gone with the other apprentice after all." He adds the last sentence as an afterthought, more to himself than the others.

"I don't think Regina foresaw it either," Snow says. "She was demanding to know what we had done."

"Interesting. I wish I could tell you more," he says. "Mostly because I wish I knew more." It has all the finality of a concluded audience. Rumplestiltskin intends for them to leave. Some stubborn part of David wants to stay, just to remind his prisoner that he is in fact the prince, soon to be crowned king, and Rumplestiltskin is the one in a warded cell in the dungeon. But he decides that giving Rumplestiltskin a reason to test the limitations of that cell would be a bad idea, and they already have everything the prisoner intends to give them.

"Emma is a funny name for a boy," Rumplestiltskin says when they have nearly reached the door out of the dungeon. His voice is nearly normal and it is even more unsettling than his usual singsong.

Snow closes her eyes. "Neal," she supplies, knowing that failure to answer would be breaking the deal and would give Rumplestiltskin far more power over their son than knowing his name will. They had hoped to avoid this though.

"A good strong name. However did you pick it?"

They ignore the question as they leave the dungeon. He remembers at one point considering naming a boy David, the name he could no longer publicly use. When had that stopped being the plan? He isn't sure, but the name Neal fits.

"He didn't give us anything useful," Snow says.

"Of course he did. Neither he nor Regina intended whatever actually happened," David says. "That's good news because it makes it more likely that the effects are over."

Red is holding Neal on her lap and Grumpy is sitting over her shoulder making faces to make the boy laugh. The Blue Fairy is watching them with grudging amusement, like she doesn't quite approve of this sort of behavior in the war room but Neal's laughter is winning her over.

"It looks like the curse misfired," David says. "We should keep a close eye on Regina, but it appears to be over." He frowns slightly. It is true, that is how it looks, but he can't help the nagging feeling that maybe they are missing something.

"Over until she next time she moves against us," Snow points out. "This time we lost a few months. I don't want to think about what we could lose next time. What if she stops with the elaborate plots and decides to outright kill someone?"

"Then we stop her," David says, picking up Neal. "We do have some experience at that."


	4. Chapter 4: What If

**Chapter 4: What If**

Emma walks over to the whiteboard and strikes through Tom Jabberson. It was the last name without a strike.

"I take it your visit didn't go well?" Henry asks, looking up from his math book.

"No. He he's never been to Wonderland, he'd just been smoking a lot of things that really shouldn't be smoked." She rubs a hand across her eyes. "I don't know Kid. People I can find. But when I need to travel for it I take the bug or I book tickets on an airplane. The magic left when they did," she finishes with a sigh.

"No it didn't," Henry insists. He gets up and runs back to his room, reemerging with his storybook. "If the magic were really all gone, like none of it ever happened, this would have disappeared with it. This book is magic. You should know that as much as anyone," he says, flipping it open to the page showing her and Killian dancing at King Midas' ball.

"I know Henry, but we've made no progress…"

"It's been a month," Henry says, sounding unconcerned. "Do you have any idea how long some of the reunions in here took?" He waves his book for emphasis. "Even in just our family, waiting a year before Killian found us in New York was short compared to some of the waits. I was ten when I found you. You were twenty eight when you found Grandpa and Grandma. And don't even get me started on Dad's side of the family. So stop feeling sorry for yourself because of a month."

"But that's my point. It's only been a month and we've already failed," she says, waving at the board full of crossed out names of people who might have been able to help. Hook's words echo in her mind. _I have yet to see you fail. _She sighs. It's just as well he isn't here to see this then.

"Wait, what was that about your dad's side of the family?" she asks suddenly.

"Just that there was a really long search there too. Like, three centuries long."

"Yeah," Emma says, running through the possibilities in her head. "And in the meantime, while Neal was in New York, he moved on too. Really, what is it about this city that makes people fall for random minions of evil?"

"Yeah," Henry agrees. "I never really liked Tamara anyway. Even before I found out she wanted to destroy all magic."

"And was part of a larger group of people with a shared goal who answered to another realm," Emma agrees with a half-smile.

A smile spreads on Henry's face "You want to find the rest of them and figure out how they were contacting the home office," Henry says without any question in his voice.

"Exactly. And where they got that magic bean. They are the only people purely from this realm that I have heard of getting involved with magic." She smiles, her fingers brushing the swan key-chain she still wears around her neck. "He promised to be watching over us," she says softly.

"Where do we start?" Henry asks with a grin.

"Oh," Emma says, her face falling. "That. I have no idea. I don't have that much of a plan, I just came up with a notion."

"That's okay, we'll figure it out," Henry says. "I wonder how long his lease was. I mean, his apartment was still under lease at the end of the lost year, right? We can try there and see if we can find anything that will give us any hints about Tamara."

"Good plan. You done with your homework?"

"Most of it. I could use with a break. We can go check out the apartment."

"Nice try Henry. I'm going to see if I can use any of my other people finding skills to find more information on Tamara. When you are done there, we go check out the apartment."

* * *

Emma stands hesitantly in front of the door to Neal's apartment. She had been here twice before, with Rumplestiltskin and Henry, and then when Hook had used Henry's camera from that trip as evidence that her memories were wrong.

Neal had never gone back after that first time she visited and for an instant she wondered if he would be living here still if she hadn't found him, happy and safely away from all the madness and evil witches and battles. Then she thinks of Walsh and of Killian coming to find her, and the fact that Neal was engaged to his own villainous minion too. No, he would wasn't meant to be in this city any more than she was. But if…

She stops herself with a shake of her head. She spent ten years on what ifs with Neal. She won't allow herself to do that again. He made her promise she and Henry would be happy, and that can't include what ifs.

"Keep an eye out Kid," she tells Henry, feeling a little bad for bringing him along for her breaking and entering, but he had begged.

"Dad said he taught you to do that," Henry says.

"He did," she says, moisture stinging her eyes, distracting her from the lock tumblers.

"You could teach me," Henry suggests.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Emma says, trying to refocus on the lock. She hears footsteps down that hall and stands up. She waits until the couple passes and gets into the elevator. "This isn't a skill that law abiding citizens use."

"You're the sheriff," Henry points out.

"I was when there was a Storybrooke. And that job called didn't actually call for much abiding by the law. Besides, need I remind you I went to jail shortly after learning this particular skill set?" She kneels again and sets to work on the lock.

"On unrelated charges," Henry points out reasonably.

"When did I even tell you about that?"

"I don't think you did. It was part of the fake memory package deal. So are you going to teach me?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. Now are you going to be quiet and let me focus here?"

He remains silent until they both hear the lock click and Emma opens the door.

"I'm not trying for a life of crime," Henry assures her. "And if I was, I don't need lock picking for piracy."

Emma smiles at the way he says it, like piracy is so obviously his crime of choice.

"But think about it," Henry presses. "Most kids targeted for kidnapping and hostage situations as often as I am come with their own secret service agents. Having a way to get away would be a good idea."

"Hey, that's playing dirty," she objects. "Fine, I'll teach you later, but not in a public hallway like that one. Now help me see if there is anything useful here."

They search that apartment for a long time while after that, while the sun sets outside. At first it feels like she shouldn't be snooping, but she remembers raiding hotels with him before housekeeping cleaned rooms, and suddenly it doesn't feel like so much of an intrusion and more like a memory.

"So," Henry says. "I still don't know that much about him, not really. I mean, I know what I have from the fake memories, which I suspect is only loosely true, but I only really knew him for a few weeks. And then when people were telling me about him they couldn't tell me anything real because I wouldn't have believed it."

"Actually, the fake memories gave you what I believed to be the truth until we found him in New York with your grandfather. There were good times too though. I didn't know he was Rumplestiltskin's son of course. The truth is, I don't think I knew him much better than you, but I did love him very much."

Henry nods. "Me too," he says.

They search in silence for a while, each lost in their own memories.

"Have you found anything of hers?" Emma asks finally.

"I found two toothbrushes and I guess the blue coat in the closet was hers. It didn't have anything in the pockets."

"Same here," Emma says. "I found a change of clothes in a drawer, and nothing else. Nothing real, nothing personal. Certainly nothing useful. I barely believe he met the woman, let alone was engaged to her."

"Think about it," Henry says. "How much of Walsh's stuff did you have to throw out when we got back to New York?"

"Just that stupid end table," she says. "So I guess lying fake fiancées and almost fiancées don't leave evidence lying around."

"Especially not since she probably didn't plan on coming back here after Storybrooke at all," Henry agrees.

"So it's another dead end. Just like the others."

"Not necessarily," Henry presses. "You didn't expect her to leave a neon sign with instructions on realm jumping did you?"

"No. I hoped we might find _something_ though." She slumps back onto Neal's couch.

"Mom, this is what you're good at, finding people."

"I already know where she is, dead in Neverland."

"Sure. But pretend she isn't. Think about it. If she was a bail jumper, how would you find her?" Henry pushes, taking a seat beside her.

"I would start with what I know, with her fiancée."

"That's sort of where we are now. You can't talk to him. He's probably… he left with her. What would you do?"

"What are you, my Kid Friday? Fine I'll bite. I would figure out where she lived. We normally would have her old address from when she took out the bail bond, but occasionally something slips through the cracks."

"How would you find where she lives? She doesn't have much here."

"She doesn't, but he does. They're engaged. He's bound to at least know where she lives. The address is probably around here somewhere. Among his stuff. An address book, a briefcase, a notepad by the phone."

She gets up and starts searching. First she searches the drawer beneath the phone, which has a small pad of paper and a pencil, but no address book. She checks his briefcase in the closet and finds it, more of a tattered notebook with addresses and assorted important notes written inside.

She brings it into the living room and sits in one of the chairs before flipping through it, reading notes in the margins indicating his relationships with these people. Henry perches on the arm of her chair and reads over her shoulder. He has a lot of business contacts and a few friends, mostly coworkers that he goes for drink with occasionally.

It's like getting a small window into his life and the what ifs rise again in her mind. Was he happy in the New York life? It was a lie, but it was his lie, not someone else's. like her year in New York had been. What if she had been here, or had not found him here at all? Would things have turned out differently?

The page that has Tamara's name has her phone number, which looks like it was scrawled quickly, and has the note "Coffee Girl, CALL HER" written large and underlined beneath it. Beneath that, in much neater handwriting, probably added later, is an address.

What would she have been, Emma wonders. What note would he have given her in his notebook? Girl with the glasses? Car thief?

"We got her," Emma says.

"I'm pretty sure Granddad got her in Neverland."

"Yes, but I'm just playing along with your plan to treat this less like a fairy tale problem and more like a bail bonds job. We are still tracing Tamara as if we were expecting to find her."

"Fair enough. And you were right. Dad did have what we needed to find her."

"Yeah, he did."

As she closes the notebook to take it with her, a postcard drifts out. She picks it up and sees the Storybrooke clock tower on the front and a single word _Broken_ on the back. She looks at the date. He had gotten this a while before they found him in New York. This is what happened, Emma reminds herself. He chose not to come after her. They both chose a different path. Enough what ifs. Enough regrets. It's time to deal with the here and now.


	5. Chapter 5: Mistress of All Evil

**Chapter 5: Mistress of All Evil**

The Dark Castle is empty when the Queen returns. She leans against the table for a moment collecting her thoughts. _A void you will never be able to fill._ It wouldn't be a problem, she tells herself, if she could have just enacted the curse properly. She takes a deep breath and stands straight.

"Mirror," she says. "Mirror!"

The face of the former genie appears in the looking glass on the wall. "How did it go My Queen?" he asks. "Did the curse work?"

"If it did you wouldn't be asking me ridiculous questions like that." She sweeps down the hall, leaving him trailing along, his worried face appearing in various mirrors as she passes.

"What happened?"

"Nothing!" she snaps. "Nothing of interest," she amends, thinking of a several month old child born that morning.

"Then what went wrong Your Majesty?"

"Nothing. It should have worked. I did everything he told me and it still failed. I enacted the Dark Curse perfectly but it still went wrong."

"I'm sure you'll find another way," the mirror says.

"Of course I will. Something just went wrong with the Dark One's curse or… Maleficent. She didn't want me cast the curse. She could have tampered with it somehow."

She turns, purple smoke enveloping her, and reappears in Maleficent's hall.

"Decided not to use my curse after all?" Maleficent asks, not rising from her chair by the fire. Her prized miniature unicorn is nowhere to be seen, which annoys Regina; it means she can't use the beast as a hostage if it comes to that.

"I used _my_ curse, Old Friend," Regina says, her voice dangerously calm. "And nothing happened. I want to know if you had anything to do with that."

"I've been here," Maleficent says innocently.

Regina narrows her eyes. "Which means nothing for people like us."

"Very well. I did nothing to prevent you from casting my curse. Satisfied?"

"If that's so then why did my curse fail?"

"Didn't you come to me a few days ago with the exact same question? How should I know?"

"Certainly you researched the curse while it was in your possession."

"I never intended to cast it. All I did was keep it safe for a while."

"Not very well, and not very long," Regina points out. "You're wasting my time."

"You're wasting your own time," Maleficent counters. "And mine too."

* * *

She already knows what Rumplestiltskin will say and there will be a ridiculous amount of security in the castle so recently after an attack so she waits as long as she can stand to speak with him. She buries her father in the crypt, and sets the castle in order, and terrorizes the peasants for a few days, building her anger into a simmering rage at the man who created the failed curse and told her it would cost her father's heart, before finally going to the Summer Palace to face her former teacher.

"I expected you sooner Dearie," Rumplestiltskin says as Regina approaches his cell.

"_You_," Regina says, her voice dripping with venom. "You tricked me. You assured me that the heart of the thing I love most was the only thing missing. Now he's gone and it got me nowhere. This is your doing as much as if you crushed his heart yourself."

"Don't blame me Dearie," he says in a quiet voice. "It should have worked. _You. Failed. Me._" He meets her eyes and it talks all her willpower to keep from looking away and flinching back from the fury in his strange eyes.

"It shouldn't have failed. I did everything perfectly," she insists, angry at him and angry at herself for standing here sputtering excuses like the girl who had once been his apprentice.

"Then it would have worked," he says in a conspiratorial tone, the brief flash of anger replaced by his usual unconcerned manner.

"Maybe there was a flaw in the design," she shoots back, regain her footing.

"There wasn't," he promises.

"But nothing happened."

"That's usually user error," he points out. "And besides, that's not how the Charming family tells it. They are looking quite well, I thought, very happy." He giggles at the look of fury that clouds the Queen's face.

"This is your fault," she snarls. "And you will pay for it as much as they will."

"That's hardly a threat at this point Dearie," he says with that infuriating giggle. "I can only hope that you steal my happiness as efficiently as you've taken theirs."

* * *

Regina stands alone in her father's crypt, hand resting on his coffin.

"It was supposed to work Daddy," she says in a small voice, leaning her head against the stone. "I was supposed to be happy. Snow White was going to pay for what she has taken from me. And now she has taken you too. And I don't even know how to avenge you."

She takes a deep breath and stands. "Goodbye Daddy."

She turns slowly to leave, but stops and goes into the other room, where Daniel's body lies in state, suspended forever as he was in life. But his body is gone from its glass coffin.

She hurries over to it, surprise and anger warring inside her. The lock is broken and rusted, as though it had lain abandoned for years instead of being meticulously maintained and visited had been to see him just three days prior, when steeling her resolve for enacting the Dark Curse by reminding herself of exactly why she was doing this.

No, this happened after she cast the curse. Or perhaps during, if the artificially aged child was any indication. Someone had done this on purpose and whoever did it will pay. As soon as she figures out who it was and what they actually did.

* * *

**Flashback:**

Henry waved Regina over as soon as she entered the diner. She sighed. She didn't really want to eat with the Charming family and Emma's pirate, two happy couples reminding her with every touch and every glance of what she no longer had. But this was Henry's idea, believing that regular exposure would keep the branches of his family tree from feuding.

And so far it seemed to have been working. If she was being completely honest with herself she could have reacted worse to Emma bringing back her true love's true love and Henry's careful orchestration may have had a lot to do with that.

She just hoped she would be at the table when Henry finally convinced the pirate and his crocodile to sit down and share a non-poisoned meal with each other. That would be the real triumph of his plan, and probably also hilarious.

So she sat down opposite Henry and next to Snow White, who was holding Neal on her lap.

"We were just discussing that Storybrooke Navy," Henry said.

"Storybrooke doesn't have a Navy," Regina answered. "We are in Maine."

"That's exactly why we are discussing it," Henry said reasonably.

"Henry is in favor," Emma clarified. "Everyone else is opposed because we don't need a navy because we aren't a kingdom."

"That's not why I'm opposed," Hook objected. "For the record, I am opposed because Henry wants me to lead the whole mess and last time I was in the navy it… ended badly."

"He deserted, stole his ship, turned pirate, and burned a priceless artifact. Am I missing anything?" David asked with a smile.

"No Mate, I think that thoroughly covers all the reasons you shouldn't put me in charge of a navy. Besides, that harbor barely has any sea worthy vessels, let alone battle worthy."

"Well, we don't want you burning any priceless artifacts," Regina agreed.

"I suppose you have little enough to fear on that point. If I get that urge again most of the priceless artifacts in town are in Gold's shop and that would definitely be my first stop." He looked off into the distance for a moment.

Regina recognized the feeling from whenever she came up with the perfect way to get her revenge on Snow White and she indulged the thought for a bit longer than strictly necessary before remembering that she and the princess are allies if not completely friends now.

Emma must have seen the look too because she twined her fingers around his good hand and he returns his attention to the table. Regina frowned at the subtle reminder of what she no longer had; someone to pull her back from the darkness.

"Mom," Henry said and both of them looked up, but his eyes were on Regina. "Have you tried Granny's onion rings?" he asks, handing her one.

Well, maybe one person pulling her back.

He grins at her before going back to his argument for a Storybrooke Navy.

"Doesn't this kingdom have a navy already anyway?" Hook asks.

"It's not a kingdom," Henry points out, "and we can hardly call up the president and ask him to send over a battleship and aircraft carrier if we have trouble with a Kraken again."

The door slammed open, revealing a woman in a purple cloak.

"I see I wasn't invited," the woman said in a rasping voice.

"And who are you?" Emma asked.

"I don't like it when I'm not included. Just ask Aurora. And you should know better Regina. That's no way to treat your only friend," Maleficent said, letting the cloak fall back from her face. She had looked better. Her usually curly blonde hair looked matted and her skin was dry and leathery, where it wasn't looking downright undead.

"Hello Maleficent," Hook said. "You're looking… much better than last we met. What do you say we let by-gones be by-gones and…"

"I'm not here for you," Maleficent cut him off. "I am here for her." She pointed a bony finger at Regina. "I warned you against enacting the curse. If you had headed my warning I wouldn't be here. But you weren't even content to simply enact the curse; you used me as your personal guard dog, and then had her kill me when I became inconvenient." She waves vaguely at Emma. "But that wasn't enough for you. You kept me around as your guard dog even then. There should be limits, but you don't have any, do you?"

"Of course I do. I didn't kill you."

"No, of course not. You didn't even let me stay dead."

"How was I supposed to know the enchantments in the basement would do… that?" She waves her hand at the woman's new appearance.

"The rest of you seam oddly cozy with the Evil Queen," Maleficent commented, looking over the rest of the group at the table.

"I know you're mad at her," Henry said, "but she isn't evil anymore. She's changed."

"That's wonderful news. And why would you think I'm mad? I'm not. In fact, I'm here to give you, all of you, a gift."

"Maleficent?" Emma whispered to the others at the table. "That's Sleeping Beauty villain, right?"

"Yes Miss Swan," Regina replied tartly. "That is where you would know her from."

"Then thank you, but we don't except gifts from strange witches."

"It's impolite to refuse a gift. And you will have it, whether you want it or not. I am undoing the Evil Queen's curse. You will have twenty-four hours to prepare, then I will unmake her curse, so it will be as if it never happened at all. You will all be returned to the Enchanted Forest and you will remember nothing of what has transpired since her curse."

"No!" Regina said, at about the same time as most of the others.

"Now, now, don't act like I'm the villain here," Maleficent chided them. "I'm, merely undoing a Dark Curse, cast out of vengeance. It was meant as a punishment and I'm getting rid of it. You should be thanking me."

Prince James had been tucked in the corner of the booth, but jumped over the back of it and drew his sword in one easy motion. "This thanks enough?" he asked, putting the blade to her neck, still standing on the seat behind the rest of them.

"Tell me Old Friend, why do these hero sorts always think that will work?" Maleficent said with a rasping laugh before wrapping herself in smoke and vanishing.

* * *

**Present Day:**

"Rumplestiltskin," Maleficent says, appearing just outside his cell. "It's been a while."

"Well, well, this is surprise. I thought you were happily settling into retirement with your revenge," Rumplestiltskin says, turning his glassy eyes on her.

"Yes. Well. Things happened. I changed my mind."

"And so you came to see me. I assume it's safe to say you want something."

"Yes, but let's start with want I can do for you." She waves a hand over the lock and it crumbles to the floor. "That's just a down payment. I have answers. Not all of them, but I know about what happened to the failed curse."

Rumplestiltskin steps out of the cell. "No one gives freedom and information for free Dearie. What is it you want?"

Maleficent smiles. "You have my wand."


	6. Chapter 6: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 6: Calm Before the Storm**

Snow wakes from a familiar nightmare of a burning room. She is used to it, so much so that she is hardly shaking the way she used to. Beside her, Charming is still tossing in his sleep.

She rolls over and kisses him lightly. Then she smiles and shakes her head because he is still asleep. A kiss woke her from a curse, but apparently can't wake her husband from ordinary slumber. She shakes his shoulder gently and his eyes fly open, wide with surprise, and he sits up quickly.

"It's just a dream," she says softly, leaning over him to light the candle on the bedside table. He shifts to sit leaning against the headboard, not ready to attempt sleep again.

"Did I wake you?" he asks as she leans against his chest, feeling his heart beat and watching the candlelight dance on the walls.

"I had my own dream to wake me up," she answers sleepily.

"What was yours?" Charming asks, slipping one arm around her to hold her a little closer.

"Oh, just the usual, same one I've been having since the sleeping curse. Red room, flames. You were there today. And you?"

"The same," he tells her.

"That's what, the third time since the Queen's curse? If I didn't know better I'd think you had been under a sleeping curse."

"Maybe I'm just finding you in my sleep," he suggests, kissing the top of her hair.

She smiles. "Maybe." She traces his new scars lazily with her finger. "I just feel like we're missing something." She shifts suddenly to look up at his face. "Don't you think so?"

"No," he says simply. "Our kingdom is finally at peace and I have the most amazing woman on the realm lying beside me and our son is sleeping in the next room. I have everything I could possibly want and so much more." He draws her closer and kisses her.

"Hmmm. I was right. Charming does suit you," she says with a smile. "But I'm not talking about _wanting_ something else," she presses, not willing to let him sidetrack her. "I just mean… I don't think Neal grew up magically. I think we just forgot about the intervening months."

"Anything is possible," Charming says.

"Think about it," she insists. "These scars, you got the wounds a week ago, theoretically. You are dreaming as if you've been under a sleeping curse. And there are a thousand other things like that, things that don't make sense if the curse was over in the blink of an eye."

"Maybe," he agrees. "But I'm not sure it really matters. The curse is over, whatever it was. We ended up back where we were when she cast the curse. We are all okay." He looks down at her and smiles suddenly. "And you aren't going to be able to let it go until we figure out exactly what happened during the missing months," he finishes.

"Am I that obvious?" she asks.

"You have that look in your eyes. And I seem to recall a certain lovely lady who brought a veritable arsenal on our honeymoon because you needed to go Gorgon hunting before you could settle down. Once you solve the problem bothering you, then you will be able to settle dawn and enjoy the fact that we finally have everything we want."

"Yes," she says. "That." She laughs. "I did tell you I'm sorry for that fiasco, right?"

"You did. But I knew who I was marrying. And you more than made it up to me later," he adds with a smile. "If you want to turn the world upside down to find out what happened during the curse, I'll be right there helping. I just trust that can wait at least until sunrise?"

"Escape!" Grumpy's shout echoing in the hall outside interrupts her answer. "Prisoner escape! He got away!"

"Apparently not," she says with a sigh. In the nursery next door, Neal wakes and starts to cry.

"I should make _him_ calm Neal down," Snow says in annoyance. She slides out of bed and pulls on a robe. Charming follows suit and opens the door.

"Who escaped?" he asks as she steps through the door into the nursery.

"It's Rumplestiltskin," Grumpy says. "The guards are dead, the lock shattered, and the cell is empty."

She manages to keep some of the tension out of her voice as she tries to sooth Neal and carries him back into the main room. She hums softly while Grumpy tells how the Dwarfs were checking on the prisoner and found the room empty.

Neal falls back asleep in her arms as she, Charming, and Grumpy head down to the dungeon.

Red is already there when they arrive. Most of the other Dwarfs, except for sleepy who is probably in bed, are keeping random other people out of the dungeon while Red inspects it.

"He's definitely gone," Red says when they arrive.

"But to where?" Snow asks, looking down at the floor by her feet. "There are no tracks leading out of the dungeon."

"My guess? 'Poof'," Red says, with a hand gesture that must be a weak imitation of Rumplestiltskin's flourish. "But get this." She beckons Snow and Charming over nearer to the now empty cell. "He didn't break out on his own. There is another recent scent, a trace of perfume and… something. There was definitely a woman here to see him a few hours ago."

"But who would let a dangerous man like him out of his cell?" Charming asks.

"Someone who wants something from the Dark One," Blue says from where she hovers by the entrance to the dungeon. "Someone who used magic." She flutters forward to join them standing by the cell door and holds her hand out to the shattered lock.

"Wasn't this cell supposed to hold him?" Snow asks.

"It would have. He couldn't use magic from inside it." Blue holds her hand out to the shattered lock. "I know this magic," she says with a frown. "This is the work of Maleficent."

"I think I've heard of her," Snow says. "In a letter from Princess Aurora. She was giving them some trouble a while ago. I haven't heard from her in a while. I should write and ask her about it."

"Yes," Blue says. "She is a powerful and dangerous sorceress and a liar who manipulates and uses people as she sees fit. She disappeared a few years ago and now it appears she has returned. I dread to think what harm should could cause in league with the Dark One."

"We have to stop them," Snow says.

"Wait," Charming says. "We don't even know if they are a threat. For all we know they each went back to their respective castles and aren't going to be a problem."

"We locked up Rumplestiltskin," Snow insists. "We put the Dark One in a cage in this dungeon. You don't think he will want to respond to that somehow? I don't know about Maleficent or how she fits into this, but we locked him up for a reason."

"I don't like the creep either," Red says.

"I know," Charming says, "But things are starting to calm down. I don't want to go looking for a fight."

"And don't underestimate the threat posed by Maleficent," Blue says. "The timing of this escape, with the Evil Queen's failed curse. I suspect she may have had a hand in that."

"Then we have to track her down," Snow says. "We have to find out what she wants." She looks at Charming, expecting him to argue. "What she did to us."

"And we will," he promises. Her surprise must have shown on her face because he continues. "I did promise to help you turn the world upside down. If you're still dead set on it, this looks like as good a place to start as any."

* * *

"I wish I could go with you," Snow says.

"So do I," Charming agrees. "But if we both go, if we make it a major event, it risks alerting Maleficent. If I sail down the coast with a small crew with the obvious intention to visit some of the lords and ladies of our kingdom that I haven't met…"

"He's right," Blue says. "You cannot defeat Maleficent with an army. She has faced armies before and come out victorious. Subtlety is your best ally here."

"All the more reason you shouldn't go alone," Snow insists. "I should go with you, or at least take a group of soldiers."

"But we can't take Neal with us to the Forbidden Fortress. If you stay here, with Neal, and watch over the kingdom while I'm gone, I can go, knowing that everything will be alright when I get back. I put him in that wardrobe alone. I can't do that again. And I know you can't either."

"No," she admits. "But I still don't like it."

"I don't either. Maybe this trip should wait. If Regina comes back…"

"No. You should go," Snow assures him. "We need answers, Blue Fairy is actually concerned about Maleficent and I've never seen her concerned about anything." Blue nods in confirmation. "So you need to make sure she won't trouble us again. And if the Evil Queen decides to cause any trouble while you are gone, between me and Red and seven Dwarfs and a castle full of soldiers, I think we can hold her off. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course I will. And when I get back, we will have the coronation ceremony, we'll stop the Evil Queen again…" she laughs at his certainty that Regina will try something at the coronation and he laughs too. "We'll have at least a short time where neither of us has to find the other. This is a brief obstacle. And I will come back to you as soon as I can. I promise."

"The ship is waiting for you Prince James," Blue says. Snow frowns. She has never seen Blue being this proactive about anything. Ever. But Blue is determined to make Charming's quest go smoothly and that worries her for reasons she can't seem to put her finger on. So instead she busies herself worrying about things she can deal with, how to defend the castle if Regina decides to come back, exactly what to do If Rumplestiltskin decides to come here instead of being at his own or Maleficent's castle.

Charming kisses Neal, then Snow, before bounding up the gangplank. She watches the ship until it disappears around the curve of the coastline.


	7. Chapter 7: Stormy Seas

**Chapter 7: Stormy Seas**

Hook wakes with a start. He has been having this same nightmare for three centuries but familiarity has not made it any easier, nor does he want it to. This is what keeps his resolve steeled to find the Crocodile. He has forgotten details, but some things the nightmare won't let him forget. He can't recall her smile, but every time he closes his eyes he remembers exactly what the dust of her heart looked like falling from Rumplestiltskin's hand, can't remember her laugh, but remembers the strain him her voice when she whispered _I love you_ for the last time, can't remember her eyes, only remembers them closed, life and light gone from them, and from him at the same instant.

It's still dark out but he rises and stands on the deck of his ship. Most of the crew is still at the tavern but he has not been able to get a decent night's sleep on land in centuries so he made his way back to the ship in the wee hours of the morning. Not that sleeping on the ship had helped much.

He is no closer to finding a way to the realm without magic and worse, there are rumors flying that the Crocodile may have been in this realm all along, and recently escaped some form of imprisonment in the Enchanted Forest. Concern once again invades his mind and he doubts the veracity of his information. Why would the Crocodile go to a land without magic, stripping himself of his most powerful weapon? Maybe the man he traded the Jolly Roger to lied.

The plan was to weigh anchor at dawn, but the sun has long since risen by the time the crew begins to make their way back to the ship. Apparently they consider punctuality optional in a pirate's life. That's the trouble with a pirate crew; they treat rules as suggestions to be followed at their own discretion.

While he waits, he makes certain that everything is prepared for the renaming of the ship. The previous day, he had removed all evidence of the name Pequod from the ship. Peeled the painted name off the sides, smudged it over in the logbooks, left no trace behind. This time, there will be no bad luck from renaming the ship because he will do it right, wiping all traces of the former name from Ursula's Ledger.

When the crew finally assembles he takes the helm and sails for open ocean, the port town slipping away behind them until it vanishes beyond the horizon.

"This is a pirate ship!" he calls, getting the attention of the crew. Or perhaps it is the full bottle of rum he draws from his coat pocket that gets their attention. "And a pirate ship deserves a proper pirate name!" He steps up on the edge of the quarterdeck, wrapping his hook in the rigging to give himself better purchase. "They should be shaking in fear, not shaking their heads wondering what the hell a Pequod is!" Laughter erupts from the crew.

He jumps down and opens the bottle of rum, pouring some off the ship into the ocean to the fore, aft, port, and starboard of the ship, a gift to the ocean and a bloody waste of good rum, but this is how the renaming ceremony goes so he does it. He then moves to stand at the bow of the ship, still holding the half full bottle of rum.

"This ship will be known hereafter and for all time, in the Ledger of the Deep and by all on land and sea, as the Sea Serpent!" He smashes the half full bottle over the ship's bow. "May she bring fair winds, goof fortune, glory, and plenty of gold to all who sail her! And a scourge upon all our enemies!"

A cheer erupts from the crew with shouts of "Here here!" and "Aye, aye Captain!" and "Honor among thieves!" The latter from a few of the men who had been with him from the beginning, since he was a newly minted captain stealing his own navy ship and rechristening her the Jolly Roger. He shakes that thought away and raises his flask in a toast to the good ship Sea Serpent.

"Now let's see what she can do!" he calls to the men. They have a total of fourteen cannons now, stolen from other ships, and a truly impressive number of cannonballs. She still isn't as fast as he is used to, but now she can at least give as good as she gets. It's time to test her against a real vessel.

* * *

"Hard to port!" the captain shouts. "Fire! You should get out of the firing line Your Majesty." The sound of splintering wood and explosions split the air all around and David holds up an arm to shield his face from the flying splinters.

"I'm not just leaving the fighting to everyone else. Besides, there isn't exactly a safe place on board," David says. "If we can board their ship…"

"See that black flag?" the captain demands. "That means they're pirates. We either beat them or they kill us all. Ready the cannons men! Master Gunner, fire at will!" he calls. "Except maybe you, if they recognize you, and if they decide its worth holding you for ransom. I'm not taking this ship near enough to them to get a boarding party on board, Your Majesty." He turns away from the prince. "Bo'sun, run up the sails. We aren't pirate hunting today."

"Captain, we've taken a bad hit to the portside stern! We're taking on water!"

"Keep firing!"

A cannonball narrowly misses David and smashes into the wheel beside him. The captain turns to him.

"We're sitting targets like this. You should take the longboat and I'll send a few crew men. We can hold them off till you get away."

"Not a chance," David says. "You do that and they sink the ship."

"Yes, but you get off safely."

"Me and no one else. Like I said, not happening. If we can't stand and fight in this ship, we all evacuate. We aren't far from shore. If you can turn the ship at all with the helm shattered, then do it so it is parallel to the shore. They have to sink it so before they can fire on use, and we will be smaller targets anyway and nearly to shore."

"Do as he says," the captain orders. "Turn her as hard to starboard as you can! Gunners, load for one more volley on my mark. The rest of you to the life rafts."

"And none of this nonsense about going down with the ship," David insists.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I'll be the last man off but I don't mean to die today."

"See you on shore then," David says, and turns to make his way across the damaged deck.

* * *

Hook laughs when he sees what the crippled ship is trying. One last pitiful volley of shots before evacuating. He wonders if they actually think using the ship as cover for an evacuation will really work.

"Smee, take a boarding crew to the ship and get whatever of value you can find before she sinks." He turns the ship, giving them space to fire on the retreating boats around the damaged ship, which is now listing a little to its port side.

After the first volley of shots at the retreating boats someone raises a white flag. The man is hanging onto a broken bit of planking and is holding what is probably a piece of his shirt aloft.

"That one's got gumption. I like it. Lower a rope and bring him on board." They haul the waterlogged man on board, and he sits on the deck coughing for a moment.

He looks up at Hook and a grin spreads on his face. "Prince Charles! How did you fall in with pirates? And can you stop them from firing on my crew? I'm sure we can get this sorted out. Is Leia here too?"

"I think you have the wrong man. I'm Captain Hook and I don't know any Prince Charles. Although I probably wouldn't mind knowing this Leia," he adds with a wink. "And why would I stop firing on the crew? They didn't surrender."

"So you aren't… fine, we can deal with that later. Back to my original plan then. You should stop firing because if you do I will surrender to you…"

"You're already on my ship. I hardly require your cooperation to take you prisoner."

"I came on board under a flag of truce. And if you violate that truce I can make it incredibly difficult to take me alive. Which you want to do because I am worth a very literal king's ransom if you do. Let them live and I will see to it that my wife will send your price to Aurora and Philip's castle, where you will drop me in exchange for that gold."

"And who are you that you can give such guarantees?"

"I'm Prince James. Soon to be King James when I get back home. You gain nothing from killing the men who are trying to get to shore and everything from my cooperation." Prince James, husband of the Princess Snow White, and, if rumors are to be believed, recent captor of the Dark One. Hook smiles at his good fortune. Maybe renaming the ship properly really is good luck.

"Fine. Hold your fire!" Hook calls to the men below by the cannons. If there is even a chance that this man knows where his Crocodile really is, it is certainly worth letting the crew go. "So you surrender to me if I let them live?"

"That's the deal."

"In that case, I accept your surrender. But I distrust the word of kings."

"That's alright," the man says, letting his sword fall to the deck of the ship. "I'm holding up my end right now. However, even the least honorable kings are usually more trustworthy than the average pirate."

"You have obviously had better luck with kings than I," Hook says, good hand clenching into a fist at his side.

"I met one who tried to kill me, tried to kill my true love, threatened her into leaving me, and generally did everything he could to keep us apart while trying to force me to wed another woman. And let's not forget him selling me to the evil queen."

"And now you're happily married to your lady love and are about to become king yourself. Yes, your king sounds dreadful," Hook says flatly. "Take our guest below to the brig. Prepare to set sail as soon as the boarding party has returned with the loot from the sinking ship."

Prince James nods and follows them away without complaint.

* * *

David waits a while in the cramped brig until Captain Hook comes down the ladder to speak with him.

"Why surrender?" Hook asks.

"I'm the only one whose surrender would get the others to safety," David answers without hesitation. "Are you really not Prince Charles? Or are you hiding your name from the rest of the crew?"

"No. I really am Killian Jones, better known as Captain Hook." He waves his left arm for emphasis. "Why do you think I'm Prince Charles?"

"You look exactly like him. You don't have a twin do you?" David asks, thinking of his own twin prince who he never met.

"No. I can say with absolute confidence that I do not have any royal twins running around."

"Well, you don't act anything like him anyway," David says.

"Not important," Hook says. "The important question is whether or not you had Rumplestiltskin prisoner recently."

"_That_ is the most important question?" David asks in disbelief.

"I have my reasons. Did you have him as your prisoner or not?"

"I did," he answers. "Unfortunately we sort of lost him."

"To what?"

"To whom," David corrects. "Someone freed him."

"Why Aurora's kingdom?" Hook asks suddenly. "There are other places closer at hand that you would be able to land in safety. Why there?"

David frowns, trying to decide how much to say. On the one hand, it was supposed to be a secret mission and especially Blue had drilled in to him how important secrecy is to his success. On the other hand, depending on the pirate's reasons for asking, there might be advantages to him knowing.

"You already have an idea, don't you?" David asks finally.

"I think you don't go on a pleasure cruise the week after you lose a powerful prisoner. You're looking for Rumplestiltskin. And as it happens, so am I."

"Actually, I'm looking for Maleficent, the woman who freed him," David says. He hesitates, deciding not to reveal the full reasons to a pirate. "Although she might know where he is now. He might even still be in league with her."

"And Maleficent has been menacing Aurora's kingdom for years so you guessed that would be the nearest friendly port to convince us pirates to leave you."

"Something like that," David agrees.

"Then it is just a good thing that some pirates are more observant than you give us credit for, Mate." Hook unlocks the cell as he speaks.

"What are you doing?" David asks.

"Taking you to look at some maps. I may be able to sail us much closer to Maleficent's castle than you might think."

"Us?"

"Unless you would rather me drop you of at the palace and go meet with this Maleficent without you."

"No. Sailing as close as possible to Maleficent's castle was always the plan. And I did sort of leave my previous crew and captain behind."

Hook smirks. "Who knows, maybe we'll make a pirate out of you yet."

"Not likely. Mate." David says with a smile.

* * *

**Notes:**

**Here in the realm without magic, legend says that all ships are listed in Poseidon's or Neptune's ledger, depending on the version of the legend, and must be purged from said ledger in order to avoid back luck when renamed. The renaming ceremony used to rename the Pequod is an altered version of ones that are often still used to rename vessels. Traditionally champagne or wine is used in place of the rum, but… pirates. **

**A huge thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers, especially Leanne who suggested the ship's new name.**


	8. Chapter 8: Darling

**Chapter 8: Darling**

Emma and Henry both sit at the kitchen doing some manner of homework.

Emma is fairly certain that Henry's English assignment to write a twist on a fairytale is practically cheating, but Henry insists it was the teacher's idea. Although he mumbled "mostly" so she suspects it was at least as much his idea so it would be less work.

She wishes there were a shortcut to her homework of sifting through Tamara's stuff. She has everything of even potential interest or value from Tamara's apartment sitting in stacks on the table. She also managed to pull some strings with a few bail bonds friends to get her phone and financial records and they are sitting in printed stacks on the table also. The woman had apparently brought her computer to Storybrooke so it hadn't been in the apartment and nothing else looks very useful.

"And done," Henry announces, slapping his notebook closed.

"Which one did you settle on doing?" Emma asks.

"I thought about a mash-up but that would take way to many pages." He gestures at his storybook sitting on the edge of the table. "So I went with Peter Pan. My twist is that Pan is the bad guy," he says with a grin.

"How ever did you come up with that?" Emma deadpans.

"It just sort of came to me." He grins. "How is this going?" he asks, waving a hand at all the papers laid out on the table.

"Not well. I'm putting together a picture of her life in New York and it's really boring. She rode the subway across town most days, but it wasn't to work because she didn't have a job. I think she may have been meeting Greg."

"Coma guy?"

"I would have gone with 'second kidnapper'," Emma says. "But yes, coma guy."

"What did they do what they met?"

"How should I know Kid? Went on dates? Plotted against Storybrooke? Committed murder and kidnapping? I wasn't there. All I can tell is that she sometimes bought coffee."

"What else? Because that can't be the only thing she ever did."

"I sure it wasn't. I just don't know… Wait a minute," she says slowly, looking over the stacks of papers. "We're looking at the wrong time." She reaches down and picks up one of the stacks of papers and begins to riffle through it. "We know where she was most recently. She was in Neverland. Before that she was in Storybrooke, and before that she was in New York dating Neal." She frowns slightly at the thought but she doesn't have time for that now. "We don't need her credit card statements and phone records to tell us that. What we need…" she keeps flipping through the stack. "Gotcha! She flew to New York from Hong Kong, one way trip. And about a week before that she… flew there from London. Now if we can figure out what she was doing in Hong Kong for a week…"

"That's not nearly as important as the fact that she was in London," Henry says with a grin. "'Cause you know who else is from London? The Darling family, including two guys who were working unwillingly for Pan. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner! Wendy's brothers crossed realms; they might know where they got those beans from. And we reunited them with their sister so they should be happy to help if they can. Looks like we need to pay them a visit."

"Wait, slow down Kid. We can't just up and go to London," Emma object.

"Why not? This is the best lead we've had."

"I have a job, you have school. We…"

"New York isn't home. I thought you had figured that out before. And none of that will matter once we find a way to get to the Enchanted Forest," Henry insists. "And if you really want, we can go to London on Friday after school and be back in time for school on Monday."

She frowns. "What are we even doing Henry?" she asks.

"Trying to get home," he says, as though it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"To a place you've never been and I've only been for less than a week, even counting the day I was born and the whole time travel thing. That's not a home, that's…"

"It's exactly a home because everyone we love is over there," Henry insists.

"I know that. But I don't know how to raise a kid over there. What do they do about school? And it's dangerous and…"

"Mom, you'll do fine," Henry assures her. "Think about it this way. A few years ago you didn't know how to raise a kid in _this_ realm but I think you've gotten the hang of it. You're just afraid of getting your hopes up because it looks like we might be on to something, so don't. One step at a time. Maybe they have information for us or maybe not, but the Darlings are the next step."

"You win Kid. We'll leave after school on Friday. And yes, you will bring your homework and do it on the plane or in the hotel room in London."

"Deal." Henry grins.

* * *

"I half expect to see Sherlock Holmes open the door," Emma comments as she knocks on the door of an old brownstone building in the heart of London.

"That's pretty unlikely. He's probably back in the Enchanted Forest," Henry says absently.

"No," Emma says. "I can't. There's no way."

"The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and her son who is also the grandson of Rumplestiltskin are waiting for the Darling family to open the door. The Darling family that we met in Neverland. And Sherlock Holmes is too much?" Henry asks. He grins at her.

"Are you telling me he's real?"

"No idea actually," Henry admits. "I wouldn't be surprised…"

John Darling, at least he thinks it's John, opens the door and stands staring at them for a long moment, not looking altogether happy to find them on his doorstep.

"Emma Swan. And Henry. Where are my manners? Come in."

He leads the way down a narrow hall into the living room. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. We all assumed… we heard rumors that magic had gone away."

"We weren't disappointed to tell the truth," the other brother, Michael maybe, agrees.

"And we figured the two of you had returned to the Enchanted Forest with everyone else."

"That's what we're trying to do," Henry says.

"Why? We're better off without magic,"

"Because their family is there, sillies," Wendy says, coming in to the room. She is dressed about as Victorian as you can in the modern day without drawing stares, long skirt and white shirt, almost like he would expect from her. "Of course they will try to get there. Henry! I'm glad you're alright."

"Wendy! How are you liking the modern world?"

She smiles. "It takes some getting used to," she admits. "But it's not Neverland and that's something, right?"

Henry grins and nods in agreement.

"We don't have access to world jumping magic anymore I'm afraid," Wendy says. "So if that is what brings you here, I'm afraid you will be rather disappointed."

"We don't have anything to do with magic anymore," Michael says harshly.

"Henry," Wendy says, "would you like to help me get some tea? It'll give us a chance to catch up and my brothers won't talk about magic while I'm around. They think they're protecting me." She gives them a reproachful look. "Sometimes they forget that I'm their big sister."

"I know the feeling," Henry says following her out into the kitchen. "Not of having bigger younger siblings," he clarifies. "Although aging in my family does seem fairly optional." They both laugh.

"I'm sorry," Wendy says as she puts water in a kettle. "For helping Pan. I shouldn't have lied to you for him."

"That's alright," he says. "It worked out didn't it? You have your brothers back, I'm alright. You're safe. They did tell you Pan is dead, right?"

"No. Is he really?" she asks.

"Yeah. My grandfather killed him when he escaped from the box they tried to trap him in, after Pan tried to destroy the whole town. It's a long story. Longer than you would think, given that it took place entirely in the twenty four hours after you left Storybrooke."

"First interesting thing that happens in three hundred years and I miss it," she complains, but smiles at him.

He watches her set a tray for the tea, putting some baked goods that he guesses are probably scones on a plate. He almost laughs because it's so _British_, which in Henry's experience is about the same thing as being a story except less real. Other than a brief stint in Neverland he has never been anywhere but Storybrooke and New York and now here he is being offered tea and scones by Wendy Darling. Fairytales he is used to, but this is something else.

He follows her back to the living room where she sets the tray down. Her brothers stop speaking abruptly when she enters the room. Apparently she was right about them not wanting to talk about magic around her.

"Don't mind me," she says at their silence. "I've only seen more magic than probably everyone else in this realm combined." She leaves the tray and beckons for Henry to follow her.

"I should probably tell them that I saw the Peter Pan movie at a school friend's house," she says, pouring tea for herself and Henry. "I'm pretty sure they would never let me out of their sight again. They think I'm still a kid. I'm not. I wish they could see that. "

"I do," Henry assures her. "And trust me, I grew up in a town where no one but me grew up at all until I was eleven. Growing up is a good look on you."

She smiles, glancing down as she puts a lump of sugar in both cups. "I'm glad someone notices. I was barely even a kid before Neverland. It seemed like an awfully big adventure, never growing up. And now I've been back for nearly two years and people still don't want me to grow up."

"My mom wanted me to stay amnesiac in New York so I would be safe," Henry says understandingly.

"I suppose it's nice that they care," Wendy says. "I just wish…"

"They would show it some other way," Henry finishes, nodding.

"They aren't going to help," Wendy says. "My brothers don't want to risk magic returning to our world or getting us mixed up in it again."

"Then they should give us everything they can so we can go away," Henry says. "Not that I want to go away," he clarifies quickly. She laughs.

"I know. But I know them too. John and Michael can be very single-minded. It won't occur to them that giving you what you need would help them get what they want."

"Yeah, my mom is like that sometimes. The one in the Enchanted Forest. Actually, they both are sometimes."

"But you're in luck. The movie versions of my life aren't the only thing I know about that I'm not supposed to. There's a rumor of a wizard who lives in New York. A great and powerful wizard who can get magic for people, even in this realm. I overheard John and Michael discussing it. I didn't get a real location or anything, just the city. Of course they're hoping it isn't true because they want all the magic gone."

"Do you?" Henry asks her.

"I don't know. Bae told me once that is all comes with a cost, and I am rather tired of paying it." He glances down at his tea cup when she mentions his father. She probably still believes that he is alive and well in the Enchanted Forest and Henry can't bring himself to break the news to her. She continues "Most of us have at some point or another. But I want you to be able to get back to your family. So I hope there is a little magic, enough for you to get home, but no more than that."

"Thanks Wendy," Henry says. "I hope so too."

Comfortable silence stretches between them for a moment before Wendy asks "If you do go, will you be coming back?"

"I don't know. Storybrooke is gone and the Enchanted Forest is home to most of my family, so probably not."

"Oh," Wendy says.

"Living in New York is kind of like being in Neverland," Henry says by way of explanation. "It's not run by a lunatic or anything, but I don't really belong there either."

"Then I hope you can get to the Enchanted Forest," Wendy says.

"Henry, we're heading back now," Emma says, stepping into the room. He can see the annoyance practically radiating off her. Wendy must be right about her brothers not saying anything useful.

"Okay," Henry says. "Thanks for everything Wendy."

"No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you. You brought me back from Neverland. My brothers may have forgotten that," she says, shooting a reproachful glance at the men standing behind Emma, "but I haven't." They walk to the door together.

"Thimbles are supposed to be good luck, right?" she asks.

"I believe they are," Henry says with a grin.

"Good luck Henry," she says, leaning forward and kissing him softly on the cheek.


	9. Chapter 9: Old as Time

Chapter 9: Old as Time

"Why Aurora, Dearie?" Rumplestiltskin asks, watching Maleficent inspecting his wand collection. She is one of the few powerful beings in the Enchanted Forest he has had little dealing with. Apparently what she wants she gets for herself rather than wanting him to solve her problems. Which, come right down to it, is something he respects about her.

"It's nothing personal," she says, smiling. "I've known her family for generations and been cursing them one way and another for as long. It's important to keep a hand in the dark arts, keeps me sharp. It is a long standing revenge because they sided against me in a battle a very long time ago and it cost me, well, it cost me this," she says, picking up the Black Fairy's wand. "You shouldn't keep something this powerful with average wands," she comments, then closes her eyes as the magic washes over her. Rumplestiltskin can feel the charge of magic in the air as she reclaims her power.

She throws her head back and laughs, a high, thin, terrible sound.

"I forgot how much I missed this," she says.

"Why now?" he asks calmly. She looks a little annoyed that he isn't cowering in fear. Cowering is second nature to Rumplestiltskin, but the Dark One has nothing to fear from a fairy, however fearsome. The most she will get from him is healthy respect.

"Opportunity," she replies. "I've been watching for a chance, opening doors where I could. I have a lot of power, but I had the sense not to murder a seer so I haven't been confounded by images of possible futures."

"_Possible_?" he asks, nearly hissing the word. "Possible? Oh no, the futures I see always happen. Not always as expected but they always happen. There is no preventing them, or getting around them, or changing them. They happen. Always."

"Oh, very well. Whatever you say. It still sounds very distracting. Anyway, in all the casting and breaking and recasting of the curse, I managed to get lost in the shuffle. They lost track of where I was because no one cared about the ghoul in the cellar. So I seized an opportunity and unmade the curse."

"And you had nothing prior to the curse to bargain with in order to retrieve your wand? I find that difficult to believe."

"You forget, Blue had it long before you did and she wasn't going to bargain with me."

"Ah yes. Reul Ghorm. We've met," he says coldly. "Still, you could have waited until she was desperate enough. In the end she even bargained with me."

"And then she ended up with it again after the curse. How did that happen?"

"There should have been a certain amount of shuffling around of items when the curse hit. Most of the items would have ended up with me but all magic comes with a price and I believe the price of that was that I would not be able to gather any items of Fairy magic." He studies her face for a long time. "And what is the price of Fairy magic I wonder? Or do you all make sure others pay it for you?"

"Oh, that's rich, coming from the magical broker himself."

"I don't deny that others often pay some of the price. I never denied that. But I have already paid. I've never actually seen a fairy pay any price." He frowns. She didn't have any useful information on Bae, just a lot of excuses about having been stuck in a basement the whole time.

"We try not to," Maleficent says with a smile. "So what now?" she asks him. "I go back to my castle, you go back to yours, and we each pursue our own vendettas?"

"You sound like you have another idea."

"Oh, I just thought you might like to handle one of my vendettas for me."

"And why would I possibly want to do that Dearie? I expect a significant price for that sort of work."

"I think you will make an exception. See, I know where your wife… oh wait, girlfriend… no… whatever. I know where she is, just not who she is to you at this point."

"My wife is dead," Rumplestiltskin says shortly. "I should know." He giggles. "She has been for three centuries. And as for who she is to me now, she's no one." As he had once been to her.

"Who are you talking about?" Maleficent asks. "I'm fairly confident she wasn't even born three centuries ago."

"My wife. Milah. The only woman I ever had the misfortune to wed. Who are you talking about?" he asks, leaning closer to her.

"Belle."

He freezes for a moment. That isn't possible.

"Belle's dead too," he says, trying and failing to sound like it doesn't tear at his blackened heart to even think of her at all.

"No, not as of thirty years into the curse. She looked very alive to me. Of course I realize I'm not the biggest expert, having died a couple times myself, but she was upright and speaking so I'm going with probably alive."

"Belle is alive?"

"I rather thought that is what I just said. Yes. Alive and well, mostly. She is sort of a prisoner…"

"Of who?" Rumplestiltskin demands, his voice going cold.

"Oh, that. You should find her in the Evil Queen's dungeons."

"You aren't telling me this out of the goodness of your heart, Dearie. What do you get out of it?"

"No. Of course not. I'm telling you out of the darkness of my heart because I want the Evil Queen dead. And I have a bigger enemy who I wish to conserve my strength for. I'll be all too happy to let you deal with the Queen and I trust this will provide sufficient motivation."

"Of course. I have a meeting with the Evil Queen. You should get going Dearie." He turns away from her for a moment before turning back. "One last question. Not that it's important. I was just wondering. Call it idle curiosity. Why did you call her my wife?"

"You wouldn't remember I suppose. I never did get the chance to congratulate you, what with being locked in a basement as a ghoul at the time."

"That isn't possible," he says flatly. Belle being alive is possible, maybe. Regina is a liar and her keeping Belle prisoner isn't too much of a stretch. But Belle choosing him? Simply not a realistic possibility.

"Suit yourself. But I know you want to go find her and kill Regina. Don't let me keep you." With that, the Black Fairy vanishes from the hall leaving him alone.

He picks up the chipped cup, turning it over in his hands. It could be a lie, all of it could be. The last part certainly is. Maleficent just wants him to kill Regina and isn't above a lie to achieve her ends. He tries, unsuccessfully, to convince himself that it isn't true so he can't be disappointed, and failing that he tries, also without success, to convince himself that he doesn't care that much one way or the other. But there is no harm in checking the dungeons of Regina's castle, just to be certain.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin appears in a swirl of smoke among Regina's cells. One of her unfortunate guards tries to stop him and is turned into a snail for his trouble. Rumplestiltskin regrets it immediately; the man might have been of some actual use if he asked him about Belle before crushing him under his boot.

By the time he enters the second hall of the dungeon he is starting to get a feel for why people call her the evil queen. Even he has no need for this many cells.

"Rumple? Rumplestiltskin, is that you?"

He freezes for a moment when he hears the familiar voice.

"Belle?" he asks, his voice echoing down the hall.

"Rumplestiltskin," she says and he can hear the relief in her voice. "But what are you doing here?" she asks and he steps to the door of her cell, disintegrating the whole thing with a wave of his hand and a puff of purple smoke.

"She told me you were dead," he says. "And I believed her. For months I believed her. I'm sorry Belle. For everything."

She throws her arms around him in a hug, nearly bowling him over in her enthusiasm. She leans up to kiss him but he places his hands on her shoulders and gently holds her back.

"Does me losing my magic while we are in the Queen's dungeon seem like a good idea?" he asks.

"I guess not," she admits with a smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you to," he admits, then decides not to press his luck and adds "The place has been filthy without you."

She laughs.

"I'll be right back," he says, looking up.

"Wait, where are you going? You can't just leave me down here."

"I'm going to kill the queen."

"No! You're better than that Rumple. Show me I'm right. Show me you're better than her. Please, just take me away from here."

"I can't just let her get away with this, Belle."

"Then don't." She catches his arm as he tries to storm upstairs. "But you don't have to murder her."

"You're right of course Belle. I can imprison everything she holds dear and…"

"Or," she insists, "You could free all of her prisoners."

"What good does that do?" he asks.

"For one thing, it's the right thing to do. Most of the other prisoners also have people who care about them. How would you have felt if one of them broke in, rescued their loved one, and left me in my cell?"

"Yes, but I've rescued you now. I don't need one of them to do it for me."

"Baby steps I suppose," she says, shaking her head. "The other reason is because the Queen wants them as her prisoners. So take that away from her. It might teach her a valuable lesson of why it's a bad idea to use me as a hostage. She can't learn that if you kill her."

"That makes more sense," he agrees. "And I expect they will be willing to pay handsomely for their rescue."

"Or you could remember that you already have your reason to save them," she says, taking his hand in hers. He stares down at her hand for a moment, then up at her face, blinking his glassy eyes in surprise.

"Yes," he says, with wonder in his voice. "I… I think I might." He waves his hand and they both vanish and reappear along with a few dozen other people just outside Regina's castle.

Once they are all safely in the forest he reaches out and crushes one of the stones at the base of the castle. There is a loud crack and a tremor runs through the castle, stones skittering down and crashing to the ground. One of the spires crashes down altogether.

"That was petty," Belle says, but a tiny smile plays at the corner of her mouth.

"Yes," he says, sounding a bit proud of himself. "Yes it was. Under protest I'm not killing her. For now. But I am still the Dark One, Dearie."

"About that, we aren't in the Queen's dungeon anymore." Her eyes search his face as she speaks.

"Belle, I can't just… The Dark Fairy," he says, latching on to the one reason she might accept. "She is my responsibility because I had her wand most recently. You wouldn't want me to turn my back on that."

"No," she says thoughtfully. "I suppose not. But is that really the reason? Or are you still choosing your power?"

"It's the most important reason, Belle. You've had a trying day. And longer than that. Let's get you home."

* * *

**Note:**

**I will be wrapping up the first of what will probably be three parts to the story in the next few chapters before I go out of town. It will, sadly, have to go on hiatus after this week until late-August because I am doing a full immersion foreign language program for the rest of the summer so I can't be writing in English. I will return the last week of August and the story will continue. There are still a few chapters that I will finish before I leave to wrap up the first part of the story.**


	10. Chapter 10: Guests

**Chapter 10: Guests**

Regina stands in the forest watching her castle shudder and crumble. Not the whole thing, but enough. Her hands clench into fists at her side. Things had been going so well, she was going to get her curse and that collapsed, she had a castle and now that's collapsing.

"It looks like now might be a good time to talk Your Majesty," an unfamiliar voice says from among the trees.

She wheels on the man to see him standing a few feet away, an arrow pointed directly at her heart. "And if I don't want to talk?"

"Use your imagination," the man says with an inclination of his head. The arrow doesn't waver from its target.

"Fine. You want to talk, I'll start with a question. Who are you?" It's curiosity, not fear, that stays her hand from summoning fire and roasting the impertinent man were he stands.

"Check one of the numerous wanted posters Your Majesty. Robin of Locksley at your service."

"If you were actually at my service, I wouldn't have put you on wanted posters."

"Probably true," he admits.

"I'm assuming you aren't here to gloat about the castle," she says coldly, glancing back at her damaged home, attempting to demonstrate exactly how unconcerned she is about the arrow and the man aiming it.

"Why would I gloat about that? I don't go in for showy property damage. Imagine all the things that I could have stolen that were destroyed."

"Then what are you doing here? And why should I not incinerate you where you stand?"

"I'll start with the reasons you shouldn't kill me. I think that's a bit more pressing at the moment."

She nods agreement, a smile curling at the corner of her lips.

"First of all, I have the bow already drawn and I never miss. If you kill me the arrow is still released and there is a good chance it hits you and we both go out in a blaze of glory. It's dramatic, I'll give you that, but it doesn't get you anything you want. That, and, you're curious. Surely you don't think I'm a real threat to the great and terrible Evil Queen. I only got this close due to…" he waves at the castle, "unforeseen circumstances. So there should be no harm in letting me live long enough to figure out just what I'm doing here."

"Ok. Start talking. You have until I get bored."

"Your curse, or whatever it was that happened, had some unusual side effects. In addition to what seems to be a fairly common one, of children aging something like two years in the course of a day, your curse appears to have done the impossible. It brought back the dead. I want to find out how, and if it will last."

"If someone really has come back from the dead, that definitely has my interest." She doesn't believe it, can't believe it. Everything is collapsing right now; it is a terrible time for hope. Even so, her mind springs to Daniel, stolen from a rusted overgrown coffin. "The question is, what do you want me to do about it? Return them to their properly dead state."

"No!" Robin says, then sighs, perhaps realizing he revealed more than he meant to with his outburst. She smiles at the sudden force in his calm voice.

"So one of the Merry men went and shuffled off the mortal coil and you believe I brought them back? And your reaction is to come point an arrow at my chest."

"More or less."

"That's a strange way to show your gratitude. Have you never heard the expression 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" Regina asks him.

"Of course I have. And as I recall, taking that advice lead to the fall of an entire city."

"True," she admits. "But either way, why come to me?"

"You're the one who has a chance of knowing what happened."

"That doesn't mean anything. Maybe I do, maybe I don't." She isn't about to tell him that she is still seething with the lack of knowledge. Still, the crumbling castle and Belle's empty cell gives her the distinct impression that Rumplestiltskin is wound up in this somewhere. "But whether I have the information or not, I'm certainly not going to tell you. Need I remind you that I'm the one who commissioned the wanted posters?"

"I'm confident some of them were the sheriff's work."

"Yes he did, but I commissioned the ones that read 'Wanted: Robin Hood's Head On a Spike'."

"Oh. Yes. Those. A rather good likeness I thought."

"It's a wanted poster. You sound proud of it."

"Under the current administration it generally means I'm doing something right. No offense Your Majesty."

"None taken," she replies haughtily. "So you're saying that you would actually be unconcerned if I were to, say, double the bounty?" she asks, somewhere between retaliation for his 'current administration' comment and genuine curiosity.

Robin looks at her for a long moment. "It's already more than the common folk will earn in their entire lives, even if they live to a ripe old age, which is hardly a certainty. It is more than most of them will even lay eyes on. They are either going to turn me in or not the same for this bounty or any amount you raise it. The sheriff will of course make a big show and bluster about doubling his efforts, but double of nothing is still nothing. You doubling the bounty changes nothing," he says evenly. "Besides, as the leader I naturally have the highest bounty, but if you were to double it all in one go I would have something to brag about so the other merry men. We are all quite proud of our bounties Your Majesty. Or they'll just wonder about it. Friar Tuck refuses to believe that Little John's higher price is anything other than an oversight and poor Much is still wondering why his hasn't changed in what may or may not have been several years."

"It hasn't?" Regina asks. "That one is an oversight," she says. "I'll have the sheriff get on that."

"He'll be gratified to hear it."

She gives a slightly derisive snort. "I assure you that isn't my intention." Regina frowns. "People have been getting out of hand since that curse. People breaking the laws of magic by coming back from the dead, outlaws wandering out of the forest to have me answer their questions, which brings us back to the question. What are you doing here thief?"

"I already have what I came for actually Your Majesty; your assurance, however much you didn't mean to tell me, that you had no active involvement in this return and therefore will not be undoing it."

"I'll do my best," she says, narrowing her eyes.

"Far be it from me to tell you how to govern the shrinking kingdom…" she nearly blasts him with a fireball on the spot for that comment. "But

wouldn't your time be better served worrying less about a revenant thief and more about a powerful sorcerer who successfully destroyed your hard work?"

She narrows her eyes, more bothered by the fact that he is right than by his impertinence.

"Leave the running of the kingdom to me," she snaps. "And don't get in my way."

"Wouldn't dream of it. I take it that means you intend to deal with the more pressing issue?"

"Yes," she says. "There is a rather pressing issue that calls for my immediate attention." She turns on the spot and vanishes in a swirl of smoke, leaving Robin Hood pointing an arrow at empty air.

The sorcerer is a problem of course, but he isn't the real problem. The real problem is, as it was before, as it always is, Snow White. The shrinking kingdom, the failed curse, Daniel, her father, all of it comes back around to the kingdom's beloved Snow White. She will deal with the sorcerer in due time, once she figures out who is to blame, but Snow White is an immediate problem.

She smiles, and it has a bitter edge. She had let the sorcerer distract her from her real quarry, but no more.

* * *

"What do you mean he won't go away?" Snow asks Grumpy. "The gate is public space."

"Yes," the Dwarf admits, "But he's being very vocal about a refusal to go away until you talk to him. We wouldn't let him in so he's just standing there, just barely not blocking the path, wearing a suspicious hat…"

"Excuse me, a what?"

"A suspicious hat. It's unsettling."

"Grumpy, I don't see how a hat can be so unsettling. If his loitering is bothering everyone so much I'll go talk to him."

"That's what he wants," Grumpy complains.

"And when he gets it, he will quit worrying you with his loitering."

"I'm not the only one worried," he grouses. "He doesn't look stable."

"Fine. You can come with me." She hands Neal to Granny. "I'll be right back when I've met our apparently dangerous hat wearing visitor. I still don't know what's wrong with that."

* * *

"Mary Margret," the man greets when he sees her.

She knows it must be him because he is in fact wearing an unsettling hat. It isn't so much the shiny velvet top hat with the tattered clothes that is the problem really, but the effect of it combined with his shifty manner and his wild eyes. But there is something bizarrely certain in his face too, as he calls her by a strange name and looks at her like she should know who he is.

"I'm Snow White," she says gently, so as not to spook the man.

"Of course. Snow White, Mary Margret, does it matter. Get used to one, you go back to the other. I am sorry by the way, for tying you up and using you as a hostage."

Her hand flies to her sword and out of the corner of her eye she catches Grumpy doing the same, but the man makes no move toward them.

"That's what already, happened," he clarifies. "You don't remember. No one remembers. I want her to remember, to remember that I came back for her, to remember growing up. She doesn't have to remember it all, but she's becoming a woman and thinks she's still twelve. She's about to be fifteen you know, not even counting the twenty eight years."

"Twenty eight years?" Snow asks, remembering something Rumplestiltskin had said about her daughter, the daughter she didn't have. "Who are you talking about?"

"My daughter, my Grace. She doesn't remember growing up because of the curse. She looks in the mirror and barely recognizes herself. I can't get to the Regina so I came here hoping, I don't know, maybe you have some sort of memory potion that I could give Grace to let her remember; maybe Emma is going to break this newest curse."

"Who's Emma?" Snow asks, but after what Rumplestiltskin said she has a sneaking feeling that she already knows the answer.

"Your daughter," he says, like her having another child is the most obvious thing in the world.

"How old is she?" Snow asks, already knowing that answer also.

"About thirty, by now."

"Come on Snow," Grumpy says. "Don't listen to the crazy person."

"You've lost things to this curse to, things you can remember even," he says in a pleading voice, still focused completely on Snow. "You have to know time has passed because your son is older. I remember the lost time. I remember everything."

Snow frowns slightly. "Come inside," she says slowly. "This sounds like it's worth hearing."

* * *

**Note:**

**I have one more chapter almost ready that I will post tomorrow and the story hiatus begins after that. Thanks to everyone for your support for my language studies.**


	11. Chapter 11: Where the Heart Is

Chapter 11: Where the Heart Is

It has taken her weeks, but Emma finally has a meeting set with the wizard. She still doesn't have a name, but he agreed to meet with her. Henry wants to come, but she wants him safely away because magic comes with a price and she would just as soon not have him paying it.

She enters the old warehouse carefully at the edge of the city cautiously, gun holstered but ready. The room is partitioned in half by a deep green curtain, with a giant mirror set up in front of it.

"**_Welcome!_**" an eerie voice says, echoing through the room. A hooded face appears in the mirror, clouded by smoke. At least there are no flames shooting up in front of it.

"_Really_?" Emma demands, stalking forward. "With the curtain and everything? I got here by yellow taxi not yellow brick road."

The voice apparently is apparently stumped for a moment and hesitates for a long moment while Emma moves toward the partition. "_**State your request Emma Swan!**_" it finally says.

"Hang on. How do you know my name?" she demands, yanking back the curtain. "_Walsh?!_"

"Hi Emma," her ex-simian ex-boyfriend says sheepishly.

"Walsh?" she asks again. Then her brain catches up with her and she punches him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground. She stands over him for a moment and he makes no move to stand, blinking up at her almost comically.

"What is all this?"

He clears his throat awkwardly. "Um, I sort of took up my old profession again."

"This is not furniture sales," Emma says unnecessarily.

"Well… no. This…" He waves around the room. "This is what I did in Oz, before the Wicked Witch." He stands up and brushes himself off.

"Hang on. Are you trying to tell me you are the Wizard of Oz?"

"That's me. Oz the Great and Terrible." He gives a shrug and an embarrassed smile.

"And here I thought this New York wizard might actually be useful. It's official. I'm never, ever looking for anyone else in New York. They always end up being my ex-boyfriends."

"Maybe I still can help."

"Not likely. I knew you were a liar and a monkey and now I find out you are one of the most famous useless fake wizard conmen in all literature. I need a portal, not a hot air balloon enthusiast," Emma says.

"I deserve that," he says.

"Yes. You do."

"There isn't any real magic left," he tells her.

"I don't need the Wizard of Oz to tell me what I already know." She spits the title with venom.

"But that's what the Wizard is for," Walsh insists. "I'm not here to perform magic of my own, or to tell people things they don't know, but to match people with the magic they need and to remind them…"

"Do you have something useful for me or not?" Emma snaps.

"I don't know." He pulls walks over to a shelf and rifles through the odd assortment of items while Emma glares at the back of his head. He finally picks up a dried, shriveled bean.

"Is that one of the giants' beans?" Emma asks.

"Sort of, but there's no magic here," he says. "Unless you can find some magic for it, I'm afraid it won't do you any good."

"Let me guess, there's some sort of price for you to give it to me. All magic has a price."

"This isn't magic," Walsh says with a sigh. "Which is why it is useless now. Just… you knew me at my worst, completely under the witch's thrall. If I give you this, all I ask in return is that you know I am capable of better."

"If you help me get back to my family, you won't just be capable of better, you'll be doing better."

He smiles. "I hope so," he says, handing her the bean.

* * *

"Henry, we need to find some magic," she says as soon as she gets home.

"What sort?"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure any sort will do."

"Any magic? It's not really interchangeable," Henry says.

"I just need a way to… I don't know… jump start the magic bean Walsh gave me. I don't know how it works really but…"

"Did you say Walsh gave you a magic bean?"

"Yeah, apparently in addition to being a flying monkey, he was also the Wizard of Oz."

"No wonder you don't trust your own taste in guys."

"Henry! Not helping. And might I remind you, you were in favor of him too."

"Fair enough," Henry says, frowning at the withered bean. "You have magic. Can't you use your own to start the bean?"

They clear the furniture to the sides of the room. It probably won't keep it from being lost if a portal does open, but it will help keep the bean from being lost of a portal doesn't open.

She spends the next hour trying everything she can think of. She tries holding in her hand, throwing it on the ground, focusing on it, thinking of the Enchanted Forest, of her family, of Killian, of all the reasons she stayed in Storybrooke and doesn't want to stay in New York. She tries kissing Henry. After all, true love's kiss is supposed to break any curse and even transcended realms.

"It's dried and dead," Emma says finally, her voice heavy with defeat. "The only other thing I can think to do with a bean in this condition is put it in water."

"We aren't _cooking_ the magic bean," Henry says. "Hang on," he says, a grin spreading on his face. "Put it in water. That's how you restore a bean."

"So we are cooking the magic bean?" Emma asks skeptically.

"No! Nobody's cooking anything. We just need to find the right water."

"You mean Lake Nostos," Emma says. "Which is in the Enchanted Forest. Where we can't get without a working magic bean."

"The well. The one by Storybrooke. We need to see if it's still there. That well is supposed to be able to restore things lost. It brought back magic, it brought you back to Storybrooke from the lake, it is the source of the magic that was in this realm. If it's still there, it can bring back the bean."

"But the town is gone."

"Yes, but the whole point of the well was to bring back what was lost. The Evil Queen didn't want things being brought back so she wouldn't have made the well in the original curse. Maybe the well is still there."

* * *

They start the drive to Storybrooke the next day. She had to call Henry's school and tell them that a family emergency came up. She had mumbled something vaguely truthful about his grandparents, but it left the secretary with the impression that his grandparents were ill instead of trapped in another realm. It's only once they are in the car and well on their way that she realizes that she just pulled Henry out of school for a hunch, the very thing she had refused to do when they traveled to England.

By the time they reach Maine she has nearly convinced herself that this is a ridiculous theory, that there is nothing here. Of course there is nothing here. The main streets are the same as ever, except there are no buildings. Main Street is straight through the forest, nothing but woods on either side. They park out in the woods near where the well was and hike the rest of the way. Henry grabs their bags in case they end up leaving for the Enchanted Forest right away. Emma isn't convinced but Henry is and he packed all the things he thinks will be helpful in the other realm.

She sees the well and freezes in her tracks. It's real. It's still here. And may well be the most beautiful thing she has ever seen.

Her mind immediately starts running though all of the options, all of the complication, because getting what she wants isn't something she is used to. Beside her, Henry is beaming.

She tries to pull up some of the water but the bucket comes up empty. Of course it is, Emma thinks. She had been a fool to get her hopes up, to think that this might work out. If there is no water there is no magic. Even Henry looks a bit uncertain.

She takes the book from him and sets it on the edge of the well, flipping to the stories with the lake, trying to find a way. She isn't ready to give up.

"We've come too far to give up now, Kid," she says, snatching the bean from where she has it strung around her neck.

"What are you doing?" Henry asks.

"Taking a leap of faith." She removes the bean from the string and throws it as hard as she can down the well. She hears it splash when it hits the bottom and catches sight of a green light beginning to form in the depths of the well.

She breathes a sigh of relief and thinks of the Enchanted Forest, hoping the bean will take her where she needs to go. She thinks of all the places she visited last time, of the palace covered with thorns where they first arrived, of her nursery in her parents' castle, of a village murdered by Cora, of a beanstalk and a pirate and climbing and leaving him behind.

She grabs Henry's hand and they jump.

* * *

**Note:**

**The Enchanted Forest Serenade will return in late August. Thanks to everyone who has read this far and I look forward to returning to the story after my summer language classes end.**


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